We arrive in Puerto Iguazu in the afternoon of Monday, August 9th. From here we will be visiting Iguazu Falls, a major attraction in South America. The falls are taller than Niagara Falls and four times as wide, having 275 cascades. The falls can be seen both from the Argentina side and the Brazil side. We had originally planned on only visiting the Argentina side but decided that since we are here we might as well do both!
We spend Monday planning and then Tuesday morning we head to the falls! We decide to do the Brazil side first, as there is less to do and see there so we figure we'd get that one out of the way. We cross the border by bus, have to get passports stamps, (both exit and entrance) and arrive in Foz do Iguacu, in Brazil. We arrive at the falls and right away are mesmerized! The view is amazing! There happens to be a rainbow right above which adds to the magic. The flowing water, set on top of beautiful green, lush forests could not be any more beautiful. We walk up and down the trails, where we not only see other views of the falls but also lots of wildlife, my favorite being the Lemur looking creatures all over! They're so cute but did get a little close for comfort at times! After spending a couple hours on the Brazil side we loose track of time and rush, and literally I mean RUN to catch our bus back to Argentina, again having to get stamps at the border. We arrive back at the terminal in Puerto de Iguazu, just in time to catch another bus to get to the falls! It literally was pulling out of the terminal... rushed again!
We arrive at the Argentina falls and first stop at the Mate gallery where I make a purchase to bring back home. We then hop on the trolley and head straight to la garganta del diablo, or Devil's throat. After crossing many walking bridges and walking for awhile we arrive at the throat, where 14 falls drop 350 feet, causing a 100 foot spray of clouds overhead. It is the most popular sight of the falls and I see why! It was amazing, literally breathtaking! Laura and I sat and starred at the falls for what seemed like hours. They were so pretty, nothing like I have ever seen before. I've been to Angel Falls in Venezuela, which is awesome, but these blew me away! After a million pictures we get back on the trolley and hop on one of the jungle jeeps!
These jeeps took us on a 20 minute ride through the jungle to observe birds, plants and wildlife, while learning a little about the area. We then arrived at the river where we hopped in a speed boat that would actually take us IN the falls! They tell us we are going to get SOAKED and give us huge waterproof bags for all of our valuables and things we don't want wet. We start the ride and cruise around for awhile, going so fast and making such crazy turns that I don't know how we didn't tip! We stop to take some pictures of capybaras, the largest rodent in the world and then head towards the falls! We get closer and are advised at this time to put all cameras and valuables away. Here we go! We are going to get so wet!! The initial blast from the falls is so intense, it actually hurts a little, but it is so cool! The power of the water is crazy and the fact that we are literally riding underneath it, was amazing! I was laughing so hard, as I could not believe how fast it all happened and how wet we instantly were! We do a big circle and go under these falls a couple more times, with each time getting more intense and causing me to laugh even harder! We then find out we are heading to an even larger one. I didn't think it could get any better than this. The next one is even better, absolutely crazy! This was definitely one of the highlights of my trip! I was so impressed with the falls and our boat trip!
We get off the boat, soaking wet and again have to run to catch our bus back to the terminal in Puerto Iguazu. I don't know how this always happens to us, but we are ALWAYS rushed! Normally running to a bus does not bother me but this time we had wet clothes on (wet jeans which are the worst) and knew that we had a 30-40 minutes ride ahead of us where we had to now sit in wet clothes since we didn't have time to change. Boo! We do make the bus though which was great, we just had a very uncomfortable ride back to town. We run to the hostel, finally change out of our wet clothes, grab our bags and then head back to the terminal for the 4th time that day to get a taxi to our next destination, Sao Paulo, Brazil! We again cross the border, getting 2 more stamps, making it our 6th stamps of the day, way more than anyone needs in one day, and we arrive in Foz do Iguacu before getting on another bus to Sao Paulo! Brazil, here we come! Our final country of the summer!
martes, 17 de agosto de 2010
lunes, 16 de agosto de 2010
7th Stop: Buenos Aires
Thursday August 5th, we wake up after a great nights sleep in the comfort of Bethany's apartment. The girls go to class and Laura and I make some breakfast and shower..... a rather long one I must say, being we had a nice, clean shower with hot water and good pressure! We have a long list of things we want to see in Buenos Aires, as it is a HUGE city so we start our sightseeing, but first we start out with coffee from Starbucks (which Laura was extremely excited about)! We explore the area of Palermo, where Bethany lives, and travel to a neighboring area using the metro, which is crazy! It is so packed, I don't how we fit half the people we did on there! Good thing I'm not claustrophobic! We return to Bethany's in the evening and they are not back from work yet so we decide to go blog for a bit at an internet cafe nearby. When we got back from using the computer Bethany had made an amazing pasta/goulash so we enjoyed that with the girls and then watched a movie Laura and I found on the movie channel.
The next morning we head to el centro of the city. Here we were able to check off a bunch of things from our list! We first saw the main plaza, before running across the avenida 9 de Julio, which is a street 12 lanes wide, measuring 460 feet, allowing a great view of el obelisco, a huge monument in the city. We went up in the Panamericana Hotel to the highest floor to get a great panoramic view of this monument and the city in general. We then visit la calle Lavelle and la Galeria Pacifico, along with watching our first street tango performance! We walk through la plaza Serrano and pass street performers and artists selling their art and jewelry in the streets. At sunset we head to the Plaza de Mayo, seeing la casa rosada and la iglesia. We ended our sightseeing for the day by walking down to Puerto Madero, the huge port in BA, where we took beautiful pictures of the bay with all the lights of the boats and la puente de la mujer, a beautiful bridge crossing over the river. By this point it was getting late and we had dinner plans with Bethany and some other friends so we had to start heading back home.
That night we went out for dinner and drinks at a bar called Druid Inn, in el Retiro, with the girls we were staying with and some locals from BA. We had some wine and food, before going next door to a Pirate Bar where we all had our fair share of beers. We ended the night at a club downtown, where we experienced the Buenos Aires nightlife, meaning we partied until 5 am! I could never live here, I don't know how they do it! We hopped in a cab after 5, went home, made mac n cheese and finally went to sleep around 6 am!
We woke up on Saturday realizing why we haven't partied like this much on our trip... it's WAY too hard to get up and do anything in the morning! It was rough, we definitely had a slow start to the day. Once we finally did get going we headed to La Boca. La Boca is where tango emerged in Buenos Aires. It was the cities first port and although being one of the city's poorest neighborhoods, it retains a thriving cultural scene. We pass through a small street market, buying some souvenirs, before entering the brightly colored town. Every building in the area is bright and cheery, with tango dancers on different corners of the streets. We bought our Argentina jackets we had been looking for, grabbed some lunch, watched tango dancing at a small cafe and took pictures with a couple street dancers. After our time in La Boca we tried to visit the cemetary in Recoleta, but it was closed, as we arrived a little too late. We took a quick tour through the church and returned home to get cleaned up for our tango show in the night!
We had booked a tango show through Complejo Tango, a very popular tango company in BA. Our evening consisted of tango lessons, a delicious dinner and a live tango performance. The lessons were so fun! Us girls would learn a move first, then the guys, and then we got to practice together with a partner. We took turns dancing with many partners but my main partner was named Luis. He was WAY better than the French guy I was first with, who had absolutely NO rhytmn! After class we all got a certificate saying we passed class! ( And yes, I did get tested.... Luis and I had to perform infront of everyone!) Class was followed by a wonderful dinner of salad, steak and sorrentino pasta served in the auditorium where the show was performed. We also got dessert and bottles of wine! Argentina is obviously known for its steak and wine so there were no complaints here! The show started right as we got our dessert and it was great! The performers were awesome and the show had a story line that brought us through the different years of tango dancing. After the show we headed back to the apartment and went to sleep. We had done a lot in one day, epsecially after only sleeping a few hours!
On Sunday Laura, Bethany, Alyson (her roommate) and I went to San Telmo, a town filled with cobblestone streets, crumbling churches and a huge Sunday antique fair. We shopped, had some icecream, people watched and spent hours walking around looking at antiques! We left San Telmo in the afternoon and went to check out La Bombonera soccer stadium in La Boca. La Bombonera is the iconic home of Boca Juniors, the biggest soccer club in the country! The stadium was awesome! I was bummed we weren't able to go to a game. Maybe next time I am in Argentina! After checking out the stadium we return to el cementario, in Recoleta, that we had attempted to visit yesterday. The cemetary is a maze of streets and narrow alley ways, and is the burial place of Eva Peron as well as many other famous people of the country. We walk around the cemetary a bit, take some photos, find Eva Peron's grave and get an explanation of how the whole above-ground cemetary thing works. Laura actually goes down into someone's 'tomb' as there is a guy that we chat with who has family buried there, as well as a spot for himself, and he let her check it out. We exit the cemetary and watch some live music in the park, as it is the thing to do here on Sundays! The park is packed! We buy some churripan, a popular sausage and bread combination, watch a couple performances and then head back to Bethany's to get our bags and say our goodbyes as we are headed to Puerto Iquazu, in northern Argentina that evening. We are not at all looking forward to leaving, as it has been sooooo nice staying with the girls, but we need to get moving! We already spent more time here than we had expected to. The girls see us off, as they are laughing by how much stuff we have to carry, and we head to the terminal to get on a 16 hour bus!
The next morning we head to el centro of the city. Here we were able to check off a bunch of things from our list! We first saw the main plaza, before running across the avenida 9 de Julio, which is a street 12 lanes wide, measuring 460 feet, allowing a great view of el obelisco, a huge monument in the city. We went up in the Panamericana Hotel to the highest floor to get a great panoramic view of this monument and the city in general. We then visit la calle Lavelle and la Galeria Pacifico, along with watching our first street tango performance! We walk through la plaza Serrano and pass street performers and artists selling their art and jewelry in the streets. At sunset we head to the Plaza de Mayo, seeing la casa rosada and la iglesia. We ended our sightseeing for the day by walking down to Puerto Madero, the huge port in BA, where we took beautiful pictures of the bay with all the lights of the boats and la puente de la mujer, a beautiful bridge crossing over the river. By this point it was getting late and we had dinner plans with Bethany and some other friends so we had to start heading back home.
That night we went out for dinner and drinks at a bar called Druid Inn, in el Retiro, with the girls we were staying with and some locals from BA. We had some wine and food, before going next door to a Pirate Bar where we all had our fair share of beers. We ended the night at a club downtown, where we experienced the Buenos Aires nightlife, meaning we partied until 5 am! I could never live here, I don't know how they do it! We hopped in a cab after 5, went home, made mac n cheese and finally went to sleep around 6 am!
We woke up on Saturday realizing why we haven't partied like this much on our trip... it's WAY too hard to get up and do anything in the morning! It was rough, we definitely had a slow start to the day. Once we finally did get going we headed to La Boca. La Boca is where tango emerged in Buenos Aires. It was the cities first port and although being one of the city's poorest neighborhoods, it retains a thriving cultural scene. We pass through a small street market, buying some souvenirs, before entering the brightly colored town. Every building in the area is bright and cheery, with tango dancers on different corners of the streets. We bought our Argentina jackets we had been looking for, grabbed some lunch, watched tango dancing at a small cafe and took pictures with a couple street dancers. After our time in La Boca we tried to visit the cemetary in Recoleta, but it was closed, as we arrived a little too late. We took a quick tour through the church and returned home to get cleaned up for our tango show in the night!
We had booked a tango show through Complejo Tango, a very popular tango company in BA. Our evening consisted of tango lessons, a delicious dinner and a live tango performance. The lessons were so fun! Us girls would learn a move first, then the guys, and then we got to practice together with a partner. We took turns dancing with many partners but my main partner was named Luis. He was WAY better than the French guy I was first with, who had absolutely NO rhytmn! After class we all got a certificate saying we passed class! ( And yes, I did get tested.... Luis and I had to perform infront of everyone!) Class was followed by a wonderful dinner of salad, steak and sorrentino pasta served in the auditorium where the show was performed. We also got dessert and bottles of wine! Argentina is obviously known for its steak and wine so there were no complaints here! The show started right as we got our dessert and it was great! The performers were awesome and the show had a story line that brought us through the different years of tango dancing. After the show we headed back to the apartment and went to sleep. We had done a lot in one day, epsecially after only sleeping a few hours!
On Sunday Laura, Bethany, Alyson (her roommate) and I went to San Telmo, a town filled with cobblestone streets, crumbling churches and a huge Sunday antique fair. We shopped, had some icecream, people watched and spent hours walking around looking at antiques! We left San Telmo in the afternoon and went to check out La Bombonera soccer stadium in La Boca. La Bombonera is the iconic home of Boca Juniors, the biggest soccer club in the country! The stadium was awesome! I was bummed we weren't able to go to a game. Maybe next time I am in Argentina! After checking out the stadium we return to el cementario, in Recoleta, that we had attempted to visit yesterday. The cemetary is a maze of streets and narrow alley ways, and is the burial place of Eva Peron as well as many other famous people of the country. We walk around the cemetary a bit, take some photos, find Eva Peron's grave and get an explanation of how the whole above-ground cemetary thing works. Laura actually goes down into someone's 'tomb' as there is a guy that we chat with who has family buried there, as well as a spot for himself, and he let her check it out. We exit the cemetary and watch some live music in the park, as it is the thing to do here on Sundays! The park is packed! We buy some churripan, a popular sausage and bread combination, watch a couple performances and then head back to Bethany's to get our bags and say our goodbyes as we are headed to Puerto Iquazu, in northern Argentina that evening. We are not at all looking forward to leaving, as it has been sooooo nice staying with the girls, but we need to get moving! We already spent more time here than we had expected to. The girls see us off, as they are laughing by how much stuff we have to carry, and we head to the terminal to get on a 16 hour bus!
sábado, 14 de agosto de 2010
6th Stop: Uruguay
So we hopped on our bus from Mendoza, heading towards Buenos Aires! The bus was great, seats that pulled out into FULL beds, dinner and wine! Other than the fact that it was 100 degrees on the bus, it was good! We just can't win, the busses are either freezing or like a sauna.
We had intended on staying in Buenas Aires the next few days but after talking with friends in BA we decided we were going to head to Uruguay for a couple days first and then head to BA to be there on the weekend, meaning they would have more time to hangout with us! So, we arrived in Buenos Aires but immediately took a taxi to the Buquebus terminal, which is a ferry that will take us to Colonia de Sacremento in Uruguay! We got on a 12:30 ferry. The boat was awesome.... when we boarded I felt as if I was on a crusieship, it was so pretty! We had some snacks and talked with some Canadians we met, before arriving in Uruguay a couple hours later!
We get off the Buquebus and arrive to the cute little town of Colonia, filled with winding, cobblestone streets and a historic feel, overlooking the Rio de la Plata. We get our bags from customs and walk to Hostel Espana to get a room. After getting settled and dropping off our laundry, which was in major need of washing, we go out to explore the town! We walk up and down the cobblestone streets, visit a couple parks and plazas and end at the old seaport overlooking the bay. This is a beautiful spot where we find ourselves sitting at for a quite awhile, taking pictures and watching the boats. We then head to a nice restaurant for dinner overlooking the water. We have a typical soup of Uruguay, as well as Chivito, which is one of their specialities consisting of steak, fried egg, tomato, lettuce and cheese served with potato salad, yum! We stay at the restaurant until sunset, and then return to the shore to take in the gorgeous colors of the sky! After sunset we do a little window shopping, buy some food for breakfast and head back to the hostel. It is sooooo cold here and with no heat in the hostel we cannot warm up. We finally decide late at night to walk around town and find an internet cafe and hot chocolate. We found the hot chocolate, but never found an internet cafe. We somehow got lost in the little town and being it was dark out and not a lot of people around we decided to take the safe route and return home. I didn't sleep at all that night as I was literally shivering the whole night in my bed.
The next morning we get on a bus to Montevideo, the capital of Uruguay! Montevideo is only a couple hours away so we decide we can just make a day trip out of it. We visit an Artisan market where I buy some handmade Uruguayan sandals, which I love, and spend some time at el mercado central before stopping at a famous empananda and dessert spot mentioned in all our guidebooks. We tried a couple different empanadas and of course had to get dessert, as Uruguay is known for their desserts! Some restaurants have a larger dessert menu than food menu, it's crazy.... and not good for my health, as I am a sucker for sweets! We decide to go with sweet rice with milk and dulce de leche, how amazing! After lunch we walk to the main Plaza in town where we people watch for a bit, watching the shoe shiners hard at work and old men playing cards and chess on the park benches. We then visit el pueblo viejo, or the old town of Montevideo before it gets dark. It's now time to head back to Colonia, where we buy a return ticket for the Buquebus, pack our bags and get back on the boat to head to Buenos Aires for real this time! We feast on the boat as we had a shmorgishborg of snacks, and a couple beers. Two hours later we are back in Buenos Aires, where we take a taxi to my friend Bethany's apartment. Bethany and I worked together at the bar back home and she is currently working and going to school in Buenos Aires, so her and her roommates were allowing us to stay with them. Their apartment is in a very nice part of town called Palermo. When we arrived I knew we were not going to want to leave there!
We had intended on staying in Buenas Aires the next few days but after talking with friends in BA we decided we were going to head to Uruguay for a couple days first and then head to BA to be there on the weekend, meaning they would have more time to hangout with us! So, we arrived in Buenos Aires but immediately took a taxi to the Buquebus terminal, which is a ferry that will take us to Colonia de Sacremento in Uruguay! We got on a 12:30 ferry. The boat was awesome.... when we boarded I felt as if I was on a crusieship, it was so pretty! We had some snacks and talked with some Canadians we met, before arriving in Uruguay a couple hours later!
We get off the Buquebus and arrive to the cute little town of Colonia, filled with winding, cobblestone streets and a historic feel, overlooking the Rio de la Plata. We get our bags from customs and walk to Hostel Espana to get a room. After getting settled and dropping off our laundry, which was in major need of washing, we go out to explore the town! We walk up and down the cobblestone streets, visit a couple parks and plazas and end at the old seaport overlooking the bay. This is a beautiful spot where we find ourselves sitting at for a quite awhile, taking pictures and watching the boats. We then head to a nice restaurant for dinner overlooking the water. We have a typical soup of Uruguay, as well as Chivito, which is one of their specialities consisting of steak, fried egg, tomato, lettuce and cheese served with potato salad, yum! We stay at the restaurant until sunset, and then return to the shore to take in the gorgeous colors of the sky! After sunset we do a little window shopping, buy some food for breakfast and head back to the hostel. It is sooooo cold here and with no heat in the hostel we cannot warm up. We finally decide late at night to walk around town and find an internet cafe and hot chocolate. We found the hot chocolate, but never found an internet cafe. We somehow got lost in the little town and being it was dark out and not a lot of people around we decided to take the safe route and return home. I didn't sleep at all that night as I was literally shivering the whole night in my bed.
The next morning we get on a bus to Montevideo, the capital of Uruguay! Montevideo is only a couple hours away so we decide we can just make a day trip out of it. We visit an Artisan market where I buy some handmade Uruguayan sandals, which I love, and spend some time at el mercado central before stopping at a famous empananda and dessert spot mentioned in all our guidebooks. We tried a couple different empanadas and of course had to get dessert, as Uruguay is known for their desserts! Some restaurants have a larger dessert menu than food menu, it's crazy.... and not good for my health, as I am a sucker for sweets! We decide to go with sweet rice with milk and dulce de leche, how amazing! After lunch we walk to the main Plaza in town where we people watch for a bit, watching the shoe shiners hard at work and old men playing cards and chess on the park benches. We then visit el pueblo viejo, or the old town of Montevideo before it gets dark. It's now time to head back to Colonia, where we buy a return ticket for the Buquebus, pack our bags and get back on the boat to head to Buenos Aires for real this time! We feast on the boat as we had a shmorgishborg of snacks, and a couple beers. Two hours later we are back in Buenos Aires, where we take a taxi to my friend Bethany's apartment. Bethany and I worked together at the bar back home and she is currently working and going to school in Buenos Aires, so her and her roommates were allowing us to stay with them. Their apartment is in a very nice part of town called Palermo. When we arrived I knew we were not going to want to leave there!
miércoles, 11 de agosto de 2010
Winter Wonderland & Wine
So after finding out we were not able to raft or hike the volcano again the following day, we decide it is time to move on to Argentina. We first head to San Martin de los Andes and then to San Carlos de Bariloche, a popular ski town on the border of Argentina and Chile.
We are on the bus for less than an hour and as I am taking time to look through pictures on my camera I suddenly look up and it is snowing!! At first there were just a few flurries, then it was coming down hard! Sitting in the bus actually made me feel like I was in the middle of a snow globe, it was like a winter wonderland! The bus driver stops at a little cabin-reststop and tells us we can get off and get hot chocolate, use the bathroom, etc. Laura and I immediately jump off the bus and start taking pictures of the snow. Nobody would ever guess we were from MN, as we were acting as if we had never seen snow before! It is July and I am playing in snow in South America as people back home are complaining about the heat! Who would of thought? The snow was so heavy and BEAUTIFUL! The way it stuck to the trees that surrounded us was amazing! I felt like a little kid again, running around in the snow. All the old Argentina women were watching us through the bus windows and laughing!
Despite the beauty of the snow, it actually caused us some problems..... our bus had a very hard time making it up the road. We actually got stuck 5 different times, blocking the road to other vehicles as it was a one lane road. Men from other vehicles tried pushing us the first couple times. One time the driver was able to shovel us out, one time we had to be pulled by a snowplow, and our last ¨stuck time¨was solved by having everyone on the bus crowd in the back seats to shift the weight. Our 5 hour ride took over 7 due to the snow, but it was so pretty that I didn´t care! We finally made it up the mountain to customs, which were a breeze! A much easier process than in other countries! We were served cookies and hot chocolate once back on the bus, and then got to relax as the snowy roads were over and the ground changed from snowy white to green grass and coffee colored mountains.
After thinking we were never going to make it we arrived in the gorgeous town of San Martin de los Andes. We had only planned on using this town as a passing through point to get to Bariloche, but after pulling up to it we realized it was adorable and we decided to spend a night. We met a guy in the bus terminal who had a spare bedroom at his house, or Bed and Breakfast, so we hopped in his car and headed there. The place was cute, we had our own room with a t.v and comfty beds. We dropped off our stuff and headed into town to book some type of excursion for the following day! After a little debate we decided on a snowshoeing tour! We went to a rental place in town to rent boots to use with our snowshoes, then headed back to our B&B, ate a late dinner, and packed our day pack for tomorrow before finally falling asleep.
Friday July 30th- We woke up early, planning on walking down to the lake for sunrise and seeing some of the town before our snowshoe tour but were quickly dissappointed as we walked outside to rain (after being locked-IN our house, long story). We went back inside, used some internet and made breakfast before being picked up by our guide. Our guide was named Victor and he took us up to Cerro Chapelco, where there is a beautiful ski resort, as well as open land for cross country skiing and trekking/snowshoeing. The drive up the mountain was rough with Victor's little car. It had rained that morning, as well as the previous day so the roads were solid ice. We, along with hundreds of other cars had to pull over and put chains on the tires in order to make it up the mountain. There were officials at one point that would not even let anyone up unless they had chains on. This helped drastically and we made it to the top! Yay! The ski resort area looked beautiful and we were a little envious we hadn't chose to do that but we had decided we were going to save that for our next city, Bariloche. We got out of the car and with the help of Victor, put on our snowshoes! (They weren't nearly as cool as Jason and Cree's!)
Laura had never used snowshoes before so she was amused by the whole concept, laughing for the first 10 minutes or so. It was cute! The weather at Cerro Chapelco was amazing! Not too cold and snowing, beautiful heavy flakes, that stuck to the trees around us. Victor, Laura and I hiked on our snowshoes for a couple hours before stopping for a treat. He pulled out a thermos of hot chocolate and alfajores, which are triple decker cookies found ALL over Argentina! We had one called el grandote and it was phenomenal! These were definitely a treat we would be eating more of in this country! We continued walking for a couple hours more, taking in the beauty of the landscape and stopping to take pictures and make snow angels, which was actually Victor's idea, haha! He became our personal photographer, as well as guide and was a great sport about it! Our last stop was at a home owned by an Indigenous man in the area. He had a fire going and it was here we got to experience yerba mate for the first time. Mate is a drink, like a hot tea, made by steeping herbal mate tea leaves. It is infused, usually in a hollow gourd of some sort, and is shared amongst friends with a metal straw. It is very popular in Argentina, as well as Uruguay, Paraguay and parts of Brazil. Victor and Luis prepared some for us and taught us the Rules of Mate drinking. Yes, there are rules to it! It was rather bitter at first but they added a little sugar to it for us, which made it better! (I did buy some to bring home and plan on partaking in it at a bonfire at Farmfest! Just an FYI Jason and Cree!) After a great cultural experience with mate we head back to the car, take off our snowshoes and head back to town. Thanks Victor for a great snowshoeing adventure!!
Once back in town we walk around the lake, have our first taste of Argentina wine with lunch, and walk around the many cute shops in town. We try to return our boots but unfortunately the store is closed and does not open again until 4, which is fine excpet that we are suppose to catch a bus at 4:30. We return to our B&B, say bye and decide to bring all of our stuff to the terminal, where I sit while Laura runs to return the stuff. That way if it took her awhile and the bus tried to leave I could stop it! Turns out she made it on time and of course everything is late in South America, so she actually had time to kill, realizing she had ran for nothing. We finally board the bus after waiting forever outside in the cold and are headed to Bariloche!!
Bariloche is the largest city in the Argentine Lake District, located on Lake Nahuel Huapi with mountain peaks visible from every angle. It is also home to one of South America's biggest ski resorts, Cerro Catedral, which hosts dozens of runs, a cable car, gondola and an abundance of rental places and bars & restaurants. We planned on heading there the following day.
The bus ride was not bad, only about 5 hours, with us having to switch busses once and take an alternative route because of a road closure due to snow. We arrive in Bariloche and try to get a bed at Hostel 41 Below which we had heard about from some guys at our hostel in Pucon, but it was full. The guy at reception was very nice and called around to other hostels in the area seeing that we didnt want to be walking around at night aimlessly with all our bags! It is high season in Bariloche as it is prime winter months so a lot of places were booked. He finally found us a place at La Moira. He told us it was an all girl dorm and they had 2 beds available, perfect. We walk there, as it is only a couple blocks away. We walk into the hostel, which is about 100 degrees and are greeted by a nice lady who works there. She checks us in and keeps telling us how nice the `guys´ are that we will be rooming with. We enter the room and the all girl dorm we were told about was filled with 25 year old Argentina guys! Perfect!! Pretty sure the guy at 41 Below got good laughs out of this one, and we benefitted as well, so it was a win-win situation!
The guys were super nice, especially Enrique, who quickly cleaned off 2 beds for us, as they had tons of stuff all over every bed in the 10 bed dorm! Laura and I have had a long day and are hot from carrying all of our stuff, so we decide we want to go have a beer. We invite the guys out with us but they suggest staying in instead, so Laura, Nicolas and myself walk to a little corner store to buy beers and alfajores cookies, while the other guys stay back to shower and clean up the room. We end up playing drinking games and hanging out until about 5:00 am, getting asked politely by staff to quiet down and turn down the music quite a few times! The guys were great! They taught us fun games, as well as slang and cultural things about Argentina! We finally get to sleep around 5, intended on waking up at 7 or so to hit the slopes at Cerro Catedral!
The 7 am alarm came way too early for us and we decided to sleep a couple more hours. We finally got up, showered after sleeping in what felt like a sauna, ate breakfast and headed to catch the bus to the ski resort! The ride up was pretty and approaching Cerro Catedral was unbelievable! I could not believe we were really going to try to snowboard in the Andes Mountains! Laura has never snowboarded in her life and I am clearly a rookie, only having gone about 5 times my whole life! We arrive and immediately get terrified! The runs are huge and we are super intimidated! I quickly remind myself that I am in a foreign country, trying to do a dangerous sport I am not experienced in, and have no health insurance! All this in mind, we decide to go for it, after chatting with a young guy that works there. We rent some pants, mittens, boots and a board, sharing with everyone that helps us how scared we are and that we hope we make it out of there alive! Of course they are all young guys working everywhere so they think we are hilarious, telling us just to take it slow and we will be fine! So, we get everything on and head to our first chairlift!
We decide to skip the little bunny hill (thinking of Ryan and Dan's advice that learning on larger, longer runs is better) and we immediately head to the an intermediate run where halfway down there is a 'plaza' area that is great for beginners. The chair lift itself seems never ending, as it is a lot higher than I expected, but nonetheless, the sights were amazing, giving us views of the resort and the lake below us. We get off the lift, where we both stumpled a bit and stand at the top of the run! I try to give Laura a mini-lesson as she has literally never been on a snowboard before, but coming from me, I'm not sure I gave her the best advice! She takes some time just getting use to her board and trying to snowplow, but I get antsy and want to get going, so I go for it! I take a couple pictures, while I'm still alive and smiling, and head down! I thought I would be a little reluctant at first but for some reason I got a huge burst of confidence and just went for it, full out! I did great! I have no idea how but I made it all the way down, even carving a little bit (Dan, you would've been proud) and never fell! It was awesome! That confidence stuck with me the whole day, as I was able to do intermediate runs and make it all the way down with some technique! I don't know what it was but there must have been something in the air that just inspired me! Or maybe the fact I was snowboarding in the Andes Mountains, in one of the coolest places in in SA!!! Not to brag, but it was pretty sweet, AMAZING in fact! I would hope that everyone who skis or snowboards could make a trip out here someday in their lives! I plan on practicing more back home this winter, then shooting for Colorado or Lake Tahoe, then heading back here when I'm good! So start saving your pennies whoever wants to come along!
Before I get too ahead of myself I should share how embarrassing my experience was with the tow-rope. Well, I don't know that it's called a towrope. It's a metal pole with a disc at the end that is suppose to sit between your legs and pull you up. I failed my first 3 attempts at this, completely falling on my face, in front of 100's of Spanish speakers..... pretty embarrassing as I was clearly holding up the line. All I could do was turn around to everyone waiting in line and laugh with them,laughing at me, as I apologized in Spanish. I finally figured it out by my 3rd try, and at this point had a fan club cheering for me! I don't get embarrassed very easily but this is definitely up there on the chart of my embarrassing moments! Once Laura finally made it down the hill, after falling multiple times, she struggled with the 'metal monster ' as well! I was, at this point, back at the top of the run, watching her and laughing histerically, as I was just in same boat 10 minutes ago! It was so funny watching her, knowing that I looked just like her, if not worse! If there were one time I wish I would have made a video on this trip, this is it! I still laugh about this once a day, usually randomly on bus rides or laying in bed! I always share it with Laura and remind her how ridiculous we looked. It makes us laugh!
We rode for a couple hours, with me loving how well I was doing and Laura finally getting a hang of it at the end! We would have loved to stay longer but had to get on a bus up to our next destination, Mendoza. We wrapped things up on the hill, got a beer and jumped on a bus to take us back to our hostel in town to gather our things. After awhile on the bus I felt lost, as nothing around us looked familiar and I think we should have hit our stop already. Sure enough we end up at the last stop, which happens to be the bus terminal, but is quite far from where we were suppose to exit. We actually need to buy a bus ticket so being at the terminal is not the worst thing that can happen, but the problem is we find out our bus is leaving in 20 minutes and we still need to go to the hostel and grab our things. We decide that Laura will take a cab and quickly grab our things and I will purchase the tickets, and again, like in San Martin, stop the bus from leaving if need be! She leaves, and I stand in line to buy our tickets. I get to the front of the line and get denied, as I don't have Laura's passport! We should have known by now that a passport is required to buy tickets! I explain my situation and he tells me just to wait for her, but also expresses that the bus is almost full. As I am waiting more and more people come and buy tickets! I am so nervous she is not going to make it in time! Then I see her run in the terminal with 2 large backpacks, one on the front and one on the back, and 2 large purses, one on her right and one on her left! I quickly tell her to get out her passport and we purchase our tickets! Another close call for us, but we make it! Mendoza here we come!
The bus to Mendoza was an overnighter, but was really fun! We played BINGO, in which Laura won bottle of wine, watched movies (in English) and had a good dinner with free wine, all while taking in the beautiful scenery outside the bus, filled with lakes and mountains! I don't think a bus could get much better than this!
We arrived to Mendoza around 10:30 am and again, like in San Martin happen to meet a guy, Raul, in the terminal who owns a hostel and offers us a room. We agree to staying there and walk with him and his son to Hostel del Sol. Turns out Raul is a paragliding instructor so after having a late breakfast we load up in a old jeep-like vehicle and head up a mountain with Raul and the driver, to go paragliding! The drive up the mountain is super bumpy and uncomfortable as Laura and I are pretty much sitting in the back of a pickup truck. We arrive at the top and Laura gets ready to go first. Raul will be taking us down one at a time, while the other rides back down in the truck-jeep with the driver. So, Laura and Raul jump off the mountain and after watching them for a few minutes the driver and I start our descent down to get them. We pick them up from where they landed at the bottom and start to head back up, as it is now my turn. One small problem..... As we are driving back up the mountain the axel of our vehicle breaks and the tire falls off, oops! Not sure what to do, as nobody gets cellphone service this high up, Raul starts walking down the mountain, intending on getting help and our driver starts to take apart his vehicle. Laura and I are standing out in the cold wind for what seems like hours. I decide at this point that I don't even care if I go paragliding. I am cold and just want to get back down the mountain. I went paragliding when I lived in Venezulea and was totally okay with skipping it. I explained this to the driver, but an hour later, once he did get the axel fixed and we drove back down the mountain to pick up Raul, they were determined to give me my turn. So, we drove back up to the top, I slipped on my gear and off the mountain I jumped! It was such a smooth ride and beautiful scenery. When it was all said and done I was very glad I did it! Raul and I landed and bought some pastelitos from street vendors while waiting to be picked up at the bottom. We head back to the hostel, warm up and then Laura and I head out to make a phone call home and get some food. We walk around a sketchy part of town before realizing we are headed nowhere and have no money, so we grab a taxi and ask him to take us to an ATM, and then direct us towards a phone place and restaurant. We take out money, call our Moms, and then get McDonalds, as it's the closest food place insight! We then head back & go to sleep!
We wake up the next day and it is time for our wine tour. Mendoza is known for it's wineries and vineyards so we decide what better to do here than take a tour! We decide to do it the Argentina way which is by bike. We get a ride to a bike rental place in the town of Maipu and with our guides Johnny and Luis, we start our tour. Our first stop is to a place where they make flavored liquor, as well as jams, cheeses, chocolates and different spreads. We sample an assortment of things and hop back on our bikes. The second stop was called La Bodega La Rural. The ride there was quite challenging, as the boys rode super fast and we were going against the wind. Not to disregard the fact that we had drank a little alcohol! At this bodega we tried a famous Malbec, which is one of their specialties and got a tour of the wine museum and vineyard. Riding from here to our 3rd and final stop was a bit challenging, as I was a little tipsy at this point after all the wine. As much fun as it was I don't know that bike and wine tours are the safest idea, haha! We arrive at La Bodega Lopez, and this place is very classy. We get our tour and sample both red and white wines. Normally I prefer white over red, but here they do not specialize in 'sweet' white wines and so I think the red is WAY better!
After our tour we make it back safely to return our bikes and then head back to Mendoza. We do some sightseeing around the city before saying bye to Raul and hopping on our next bus, this time to the capital, Buenos Aires!
We are on the bus for less than an hour and as I am taking time to look through pictures on my camera I suddenly look up and it is snowing!! At first there were just a few flurries, then it was coming down hard! Sitting in the bus actually made me feel like I was in the middle of a snow globe, it was like a winter wonderland! The bus driver stops at a little cabin-reststop and tells us we can get off and get hot chocolate, use the bathroom, etc. Laura and I immediately jump off the bus and start taking pictures of the snow. Nobody would ever guess we were from MN, as we were acting as if we had never seen snow before! It is July and I am playing in snow in South America as people back home are complaining about the heat! Who would of thought? The snow was so heavy and BEAUTIFUL! The way it stuck to the trees that surrounded us was amazing! I felt like a little kid again, running around in the snow. All the old Argentina women were watching us through the bus windows and laughing!
Despite the beauty of the snow, it actually caused us some problems..... our bus had a very hard time making it up the road. We actually got stuck 5 different times, blocking the road to other vehicles as it was a one lane road. Men from other vehicles tried pushing us the first couple times. One time the driver was able to shovel us out, one time we had to be pulled by a snowplow, and our last ¨stuck time¨was solved by having everyone on the bus crowd in the back seats to shift the weight. Our 5 hour ride took over 7 due to the snow, but it was so pretty that I didn´t care! We finally made it up the mountain to customs, which were a breeze! A much easier process than in other countries! We were served cookies and hot chocolate once back on the bus, and then got to relax as the snowy roads were over and the ground changed from snowy white to green grass and coffee colored mountains.
After thinking we were never going to make it we arrived in the gorgeous town of San Martin de los Andes. We had only planned on using this town as a passing through point to get to Bariloche, but after pulling up to it we realized it was adorable and we decided to spend a night. We met a guy in the bus terminal who had a spare bedroom at his house, or Bed and Breakfast, so we hopped in his car and headed there. The place was cute, we had our own room with a t.v and comfty beds. We dropped off our stuff and headed into town to book some type of excursion for the following day! After a little debate we decided on a snowshoeing tour! We went to a rental place in town to rent boots to use with our snowshoes, then headed back to our B&B, ate a late dinner, and packed our day pack for tomorrow before finally falling asleep.
Friday July 30th- We woke up early, planning on walking down to the lake for sunrise and seeing some of the town before our snowshoe tour but were quickly dissappointed as we walked outside to rain (after being locked-IN our house, long story). We went back inside, used some internet and made breakfast before being picked up by our guide. Our guide was named Victor and he took us up to Cerro Chapelco, where there is a beautiful ski resort, as well as open land for cross country skiing and trekking/snowshoeing. The drive up the mountain was rough with Victor's little car. It had rained that morning, as well as the previous day so the roads were solid ice. We, along with hundreds of other cars had to pull over and put chains on the tires in order to make it up the mountain. There were officials at one point that would not even let anyone up unless they had chains on. This helped drastically and we made it to the top! Yay! The ski resort area looked beautiful and we were a little envious we hadn't chose to do that but we had decided we were going to save that for our next city, Bariloche. We got out of the car and with the help of Victor, put on our snowshoes! (They weren't nearly as cool as Jason and Cree's!)
Laura had never used snowshoes before so she was amused by the whole concept, laughing for the first 10 minutes or so. It was cute! The weather at Cerro Chapelco was amazing! Not too cold and snowing, beautiful heavy flakes, that stuck to the trees around us. Victor, Laura and I hiked on our snowshoes for a couple hours before stopping for a treat. He pulled out a thermos of hot chocolate and alfajores, which are triple decker cookies found ALL over Argentina! We had one called el grandote and it was phenomenal! These were definitely a treat we would be eating more of in this country! We continued walking for a couple hours more, taking in the beauty of the landscape and stopping to take pictures and make snow angels, which was actually Victor's idea, haha! He became our personal photographer, as well as guide and was a great sport about it! Our last stop was at a home owned by an Indigenous man in the area. He had a fire going and it was here we got to experience yerba mate for the first time. Mate is a drink, like a hot tea, made by steeping herbal mate tea leaves. It is infused, usually in a hollow gourd of some sort, and is shared amongst friends with a metal straw. It is very popular in Argentina, as well as Uruguay, Paraguay and parts of Brazil. Victor and Luis prepared some for us and taught us the Rules of Mate drinking. Yes, there are rules to it! It was rather bitter at first but they added a little sugar to it for us, which made it better! (I did buy some to bring home and plan on partaking in it at a bonfire at Farmfest! Just an FYI Jason and Cree!) After a great cultural experience with mate we head back to the car, take off our snowshoes and head back to town. Thanks Victor for a great snowshoeing adventure!!
Once back in town we walk around the lake, have our first taste of Argentina wine with lunch, and walk around the many cute shops in town. We try to return our boots but unfortunately the store is closed and does not open again until 4, which is fine excpet that we are suppose to catch a bus at 4:30. We return to our B&B, say bye and decide to bring all of our stuff to the terminal, where I sit while Laura runs to return the stuff. That way if it took her awhile and the bus tried to leave I could stop it! Turns out she made it on time and of course everything is late in South America, so she actually had time to kill, realizing she had ran for nothing. We finally board the bus after waiting forever outside in the cold and are headed to Bariloche!!
Bariloche is the largest city in the Argentine Lake District, located on Lake Nahuel Huapi with mountain peaks visible from every angle. It is also home to one of South America's biggest ski resorts, Cerro Catedral, which hosts dozens of runs, a cable car, gondola and an abundance of rental places and bars & restaurants. We planned on heading there the following day.
The bus ride was not bad, only about 5 hours, with us having to switch busses once and take an alternative route because of a road closure due to snow. We arrive in Bariloche and try to get a bed at Hostel 41 Below which we had heard about from some guys at our hostel in Pucon, but it was full. The guy at reception was very nice and called around to other hostels in the area seeing that we didnt want to be walking around at night aimlessly with all our bags! It is high season in Bariloche as it is prime winter months so a lot of places were booked. He finally found us a place at La Moira. He told us it was an all girl dorm and they had 2 beds available, perfect. We walk there, as it is only a couple blocks away. We walk into the hostel, which is about 100 degrees and are greeted by a nice lady who works there. She checks us in and keeps telling us how nice the `guys´ are that we will be rooming with. We enter the room and the all girl dorm we were told about was filled with 25 year old Argentina guys! Perfect!! Pretty sure the guy at 41 Below got good laughs out of this one, and we benefitted as well, so it was a win-win situation!
The guys were super nice, especially Enrique, who quickly cleaned off 2 beds for us, as they had tons of stuff all over every bed in the 10 bed dorm! Laura and I have had a long day and are hot from carrying all of our stuff, so we decide we want to go have a beer. We invite the guys out with us but they suggest staying in instead, so Laura, Nicolas and myself walk to a little corner store to buy beers and alfajores cookies, while the other guys stay back to shower and clean up the room. We end up playing drinking games and hanging out until about 5:00 am, getting asked politely by staff to quiet down and turn down the music quite a few times! The guys were great! They taught us fun games, as well as slang and cultural things about Argentina! We finally get to sleep around 5, intended on waking up at 7 or so to hit the slopes at Cerro Catedral!
The 7 am alarm came way too early for us and we decided to sleep a couple more hours. We finally got up, showered after sleeping in what felt like a sauna, ate breakfast and headed to catch the bus to the ski resort! The ride up was pretty and approaching Cerro Catedral was unbelievable! I could not believe we were really going to try to snowboard in the Andes Mountains! Laura has never snowboarded in her life and I am clearly a rookie, only having gone about 5 times my whole life! We arrive and immediately get terrified! The runs are huge and we are super intimidated! I quickly remind myself that I am in a foreign country, trying to do a dangerous sport I am not experienced in, and have no health insurance! All this in mind, we decide to go for it, after chatting with a young guy that works there. We rent some pants, mittens, boots and a board, sharing with everyone that helps us how scared we are and that we hope we make it out of there alive! Of course they are all young guys working everywhere so they think we are hilarious, telling us just to take it slow and we will be fine! So, we get everything on and head to our first chairlift!
We decide to skip the little bunny hill (thinking of Ryan and Dan's advice that learning on larger, longer runs is better) and we immediately head to the an intermediate run where halfway down there is a 'plaza' area that is great for beginners. The chair lift itself seems never ending, as it is a lot higher than I expected, but nonetheless, the sights were amazing, giving us views of the resort and the lake below us. We get off the lift, where we both stumpled a bit and stand at the top of the run! I try to give Laura a mini-lesson as she has literally never been on a snowboard before, but coming from me, I'm not sure I gave her the best advice! She takes some time just getting use to her board and trying to snowplow, but I get antsy and want to get going, so I go for it! I take a couple pictures, while I'm still alive and smiling, and head down! I thought I would be a little reluctant at first but for some reason I got a huge burst of confidence and just went for it, full out! I did great! I have no idea how but I made it all the way down, even carving a little bit (Dan, you would've been proud) and never fell! It was awesome! That confidence stuck with me the whole day, as I was able to do intermediate runs and make it all the way down with some technique! I don't know what it was but there must have been something in the air that just inspired me! Or maybe the fact I was snowboarding in the Andes Mountains, in one of the coolest places in in SA!!! Not to brag, but it was pretty sweet, AMAZING in fact! I would hope that everyone who skis or snowboards could make a trip out here someday in their lives! I plan on practicing more back home this winter, then shooting for Colorado or Lake Tahoe, then heading back here when I'm good! So start saving your pennies whoever wants to come along!
Before I get too ahead of myself I should share how embarrassing my experience was with the tow-rope. Well, I don't know that it's called a towrope. It's a metal pole with a disc at the end that is suppose to sit between your legs and pull you up. I failed my first 3 attempts at this, completely falling on my face, in front of 100's of Spanish speakers..... pretty embarrassing as I was clearly holding up the line. All I could do was turn around to everyone waiting in line and laugh with them,laughing at me, as I apologized in Spanish. I finally figured it out by my 3rd try, and at this point had a fan club cheering for me! I don't get embarrassed very easily but this is definitely up there on the chart of my embarrassing moments! Once Laura finally made it down the hill, after falling multiple times, she struggled with the 'metal monster ' as well! I was, at this point, back at the top of the run, watching her and laughing histerically, as I was just in same boat 10 minutes ago! It was so funny watching her, knowing that I looked just like her, if not worse! If there were one time I wish I would have made a video on this trip, this is it! I still laugh about this once a day, usually randomly on bus rides or laying in bed! I always share it with Laura and remind her how ridiculous we looked. It makes us laugh!
We rode for a couple hours, with me loving how well I was doing and Laura finally getting a hang of it at the end! We would have loved to stay longer but had to get on a bus up to our next destination, Mendoza. We wrapped things up on the hill, got a beer and jumped on a bus to take us back to our hostel in town to gather our things. After awhile on the bus I felt lost, as nothing around us looked familiar and I think we should have hit our stop already. Sure enough we end up at the last stop, which happens to be the bus terminal, but is quite far from where we were suppose to exit. We actually need to buy a bus ticket so being at the terminal is not the worst thing that can happen, but the problem is we find out our bus is leaving in 20 minutes and we still need to go to the hostel and grab our things. We decide that Laura will take a cab and quickly grab our things and I will purchase the tickets, and again, like in San Martin, stop the bus from leaving if need be! She leaves, and I stand in line to buy our tickets. I get to the front of the line and get denied, as I don't have Laura's passport! We should have known by now that a passport is required to buy tickets! I explain my situation and he tells me just to wait for her, but also expresses that the bus is almost full. As I am waiting more and more people come and buy tickets! I am so nervous she is not going to make it in time! Then I see her run in the terminal with 2 large backpacks, one on the front and one on the back, and 2 large purses, one on her right and one on her left! I quickly tell her to get out her passport and we purchase our tickets! Another close call for us, but we make it! Mendoza here we come!
The bus to Mendoza was an overnighter, but was really fun! We played BINGO, in which Laura won bottle of wine, watched movies (in English) and had a good dinner with free wine, all while taking in the beautiful scenery outside the bus, filled with lakes and mountains! I don't think a bus could get much better than this!
We arrived to Mendoza around 10:30 am and again, like in San Martin happen to meet a guy, Raul, in the terminal who owns a hostel and offers us a room. We agree to staying there and walk with him and his son to Hostel del Sol. Turns out Raul is a paragliding instructor so after having a late breakfast we load up in a old jeep-like vehicle and head up a mountain with Raul and the driver, to go paragliding! The drive up the mountain is super bumpy and uncomfortable as Laura and I are pretty much sitting in the back of a pickup truck. We arrive at the top and Laura gets ready to go first. Raul will be taking us down one at a time, while the other rides back down in the truck-jeep with the driver. So, Laura and Raul jump off the mountain and after watching them for a few minutes the driver and I start our descent down to get them. We pick them up from where they landed at the bottom and start to head back up, as it is now my turn. One small problem..... As we are driving back up the mountain the axel of our vehicle breaks and the tire falls off, oops! Not sure what to do, as nobody gets cellphone service this high up, Raul starts walking down the mountain, intending on getting help and our driver starts to take apart his vehicle. Laura and I are standing out in the cold wind for what seems like hours. I decide at this point that I don't even care if I go paragliding. I am cold and just want to get back down the mountain. I went paragliding when I lived in Venezulea and was totally okay with skipping it. I explained this to the driver, but an hour later, once he did get the axel fixed and we drove back down the mountain to pick up Raul, they were determined to give me my turn. So, we drove back up to the top, I slipped on my gear and off the mountain I jumped! It was such a smooth ride and beautiful scenery. When it was all said and done I was very glad I did it! Raul and I landed and bought some pastelitos from street vendors while waiting to be picked up at the bottom. We head back to the hostel, warm up and then Laura and I head out to make a phone call home and get some food. We walk around a sketchy part of town before realizing we are headed nowhere and have no money, so we grab a taxi and ask him to take us to an ATM, and then direct us towards a phone place and restaurant. We take out money, call our Moms, and then get McDonalds, as it's the closest food place insight! We then head back & go to sleep!
We wake up the next day and it is time for our wine tour. Mendoza is known for it's wineries and vineyards so we decide what better to do here than take a tour! We decide to do it the Argentina way which is by bike. We get a ride to a bike rental place in the town of Maipu and with our guides Johnny and Luis, we start our tour. Our first stop is to a place where they make flavored liquor, as well as jams, cheeses, chocolates and different spreads. We sample an assortment of things and hop back on our bikes. The second stop was called La Bodega La Rural. The ride there was quite challenging, as the boys rode super fast and we were going against the wind. Not to disregard the fact that we had drank a little alcohol! At this bodega we tried a famous Malbec, which is one of their specialties and got a tour of the wine museum and vineyard. Riding from here to our 3rd and final stop was a bit challenging, as I was a little tipsy at this point after all the wine. As much fun as it was I don't know that bike and wine tours are the safest idea, haha! We arrive at La Bodega Lopez, and this place is very classy. We get our tour and sample both red and white wines. Normally I prefer white over red, but here they do not specialize in 'sweet' white wines and so I think the red is WAY better!
After our tour we make it back safely to return our bikes and then head back to Mendoza. We do some sightseeing around the city before saying bye to Raul and hopping on our next bus, this time to the capital, Buenos Aires!
More time in Chile!
On Sunday July 25th we sadly leave Easter Island and arrive back in Santiago, Chile in the evening. We get beds at La Chimba hostel, in Barrio Bellavista and call it an early night.
The following day starts out slow for us as neither one of us has the desire to be tourists and go sightseeing. We finally get ready and head to la Plaza Caupolican, where we take a funicular, cable car, up to Parque Metropolitano (Cerro Cristobal), where we are able to see amazing views of the city! Laura and I are just hanging out, taking pictures and enjoying the view when all of sudden this guy, James, hears us speaking English and happens to approach us, asking if we can take a picture of him. Turns out he lives in Minnesota, Uptown to be exact, just a couple miles away from me!! Crazy! James has a job where he travels to various countries doing computer training and he happened to be in Santiago for a few days. After chatting and getting to know him a bit we realized we had the same goals for the day so he decided to tag along with me and Laura. We walked around Cerro Cristobal, got some empanadas at a sidewalk cafe and then headed towards the central part of town, making stops for carmalized nuts and to take pictures along the way. We reached the Plaza de Armas by dark, giving us a beautiful view of the cathedral and surroudning buildings. The plaza was filled with magicians, jugglers, painters and street performers. We stopped for what was going to be 1 beer (at Shoppe Dog Saloon), but found ourselves bar hopping around Patio Bellavista until early morning! He was a bad influence on us, or maybe us on him... as he was the one that had to give a presentation the following day! Either way, we had a blast with him and have already made plans to meet up in Mpls!
The following day Laura and I had planned to go paragliding but due to a lack of wind nobody would take us out. We instead decided to finish our Santiago sightseeing, checking out Barrio Brasil and doing some shopping before hitting up the local fish and fruits market for lunch (with free pisco sours, yummy!)! We totally lost track of time and realized we had to hurry if we wanted to catch our bus to our next city, Pucon! We rushed back to La Chimba, had the cab wait while we grabbed our stuff and then raced to the terminal, which is located within a mall. We ran up 3 flights of stairs, up an escalator and through a mall with all of bags! Luckily everything in South America runs late, a lot like me, so we just made it! Time for an overnight bus!
We arrive to the cute little town of Pucon on the morning of Wednesday July 28th and get a room at El Refugio, a cute little cabin-like hostel in the middle of town. Pucon is known as the ¨mecca¨ for adventure sports and we were super excited to be here! It helped that the town is adorable, giving me the feeling of being up north in a log cabin! We planned to hike it´s amazing volcano, Villarrica, go river rafting, and do a zipline through the canopy! Unfortunately, just like in San Pedro, weather/time-of-year permitted us from doing these things. We were not able to do rafting because there weren´t enough people and none of the volcano tours were going due to rain, safety and poor visibilty. Bummer! We were told to hang out for a few days and wait for the weather to improve but we don´t have time to wait, as we are crunched for time with all that we plan to do this summer! So after being denied for rafting and the volcano we finally got a yes for the canopy tour! It was awesome! The ziplines may not have compared to ones I have done in Costa Rica, but it was still a blast and I did have a couple seconds of fear as we ziplined over a river with flowing rapids! After the canopy tour we take some time to walk around Lake Villarrica and take a $3.00 row-boat ride from a local old man we found on the beach. So much for our crazy rafting adventure, instead we´re riding in a rowboat, going 5 miles per hour! We are so cheesy!
After the rowboat we walked through a couple souvenir shops and bought some icecream before taking a trip to visit the hot springs, aguas termales, that night! We took a van with some local Chilean college students who are on a break from the University. We had a lot of fun with them at first, but after too many drinks the guys all got really annoying/over flirtacious. Laura and I still enjoyed ourselves, having cocktails, star gazing and relaxing in the different hot pools, one of which reached 120 degrees! The springs consisted of six different pools, all of different temperatures. We started in the least hot and worked our way up, ending in the hottest pool so that coming out of the water and having to change back into our clothes, in the frigid open air, actually felt good as it was sooooo hot!!
After an amazing time in the hot springs and a crazy van ride back, we arrive at our hostel around midnight, where we had a slight problem. I had forgotten to bring our key, and therefore were locked out. Nobody was at reception and the place was pitch dark. We knock for about 5 minutes, but nobody comes. We do manage to wake up the dog, Blanca, but unfortunately she cannot open the door! After knocking a bit more we finally decide that we need to pound super hard if we want to be heard, otherwise we will be sleeping outside, which didnt sound like fun having wet hair! So with us pounding and Blanca whining we finally wake up Evelyn, one of the girls employed at the hostel . We apologize for waking her up, try to calm down Blanca and head to bed. Blanca actually decides she wants to sleep in my bottom bunkbed, so I guess I get the top. Buenas noches! Tomorrow we are off to Argentina!
The following day starts out slow for us as neither one of us has the desire to be tourists and go sightseeing. We finally get ready and head to la Plaza Caupolican, where we take a funicular, cable car, up to Parque Metropolitano (Cerro Cristobal), where we are able to see amazing views of the city! Laura and I are just hanging out, taking pictures and enjoying the view when all of sudden this guy, James, hears us speaking English and happens to approach us, asking if we can take a picture of him. Turns out he lives in Minnesota, Uptown to be exact, just a couple miles away from me!! Crazy! James has a job where he travels to various countries doing computer training and he happened to be in Santiago for a few days. After chatting and getting to know him a bit we realized we had the same goals for the day so he decided to tag along with me and Laura. We walked around Cerro Cristobal, got some empanadas at a sidewalk cafe and then headed towards the central part of town, making stops for carmalized nuts and to take pictures along the way. We reached the Plaza de Armas by dark, giving us a beautiful view of the cathedral and surroudning buildings. The plaza was filled with magicians, jugglers, painters and street performers. We stopped for what was going to be 1 beer (at Shoppe Dog Saloon), but found ourselves bar hopping around Patio Bellavista until early morning! He was a bad influence on us, or maybe us on him... as he was the one that had to give a presentation the following day! Either way, we had a blast with him and have already made plans to meet up in Mpls!
The following day Laura and I had planned to go paragliding but due to a lack of wind nobody would take us out. We instead decided to finish our Santiago sightseeing, checking out Barrio Brasil and doing some shopping before hitting up the local fish and fruits market for lunch (with free pisco sours, yummy!)! We totally lost track of time and realized we had to hurry if we wanted to catch our bus to our next city, Pucon! We rushed back to La Chimba, had the cab wait while we grabbed our stuff and then raced to the terminal, which is located within a mall. We ran up 3 flights of stairs, up an escalator and through a mall with all of bags! Luckily everything in South America runs late, a lot like me, so we just made it! Time for an overnight bus!
We arrive to the cute little town of Pucon on the morning of Wednesday July 28th and get a room at El Refugio, a cute little cabin-like hostel in the middle of town. Pucon is known as the ¨mecca¨ for adventure sports and we were super excited to be here! It helped that the town is adorable, giving me the feeling of being up north in a log cabin! We planned to hike it´s amazing volcano, Villarrica, go river rafting, and do a zipline through the canopy! Unfortunately, just like in San Pedro, weather/time-of-year permitted us from doing these things. We were not able to do rafting because there weren´t enough people and none of the volcano tours were going due to rain, safety and poor visibilty. Bummer! We were told to hang out for a few days and wait for the weather to improve but we don´t have time to wait, as we are crunched for time with all that we plan to do this summer! So after being denied for rafting and the volcano we finally got a yes for the canopy tour! It was awesome! The ziplines may not have compared to ones I have done in Costa Rica, but it was still a blast and I did have a couple seconds of fear as we ziplined over a river with flowing rapids! After the canopy tour we take some time to walk around Lake Villarrica and take a $3.00 row-boat ride from a local old man we found on the beach. So much for our crazy rafting adventure, instead we´re riding in a rowboat, going 5 miles per hour! We are so cheesy!
After the rowboat we walked through a couple souvenir shops and bought some icecream before taking a trip to visit the hot springs, aguas termales, that night! We took a van with some local Chilean college students who are on a break from the University. We had a lot of fun with them at first, but after too many drinks the guys all got really annoying/over flirtacious. Laura and I still enjoyed ourselves, having cocktails, star gazing and relaxing in the different hot pools, one of which reached 120 degrees! The springs consisted of six different pools, all of different temperatures. We started in the least hot and worked our way up, ending in the hottest pool so that coming out of the water and having to change back into our clothes, in the frigid open air, actually felt good as it was sooooo hot!!
After an amazing time in the hot springs and a crazy van ride back, we arrive at our hostel around midnight, where we had a slight problem. I had forgotten to bring our key, and therefore were locked out. Nobody was at reception and the place was pitch dark. We knock for about 5 minutes, but nobody comes. We do manage to wake up the dog, Blanca, but unfortunately she cannot open the door! After knocking a bit more we finally decide that we need to pound super hard if we want to be heard, otherwise we will be sleeping outside, which didnt sound like fun having wet hair! So with us pounding and Blanca whining we finally wake up Evelyn, one of the girls employed at the hostel . We apologize for waking her up, try to calm down Blanca and head to bed. Blanca actually decides she wants to sleep in my bottom bunkbed, so I guess I get the top. Buenas noches! Tomorrow we are off to Argentina!
jueves, 5 de agosto de 2010
Moai, Moai and more Moai!
We arrive to Santiago, Chile late Tuesday night, and rather then paying for a place to sleep for just a few hours we take a cab directly from the bus terminal to the airport, where we decide we will spend the night. The airport actually has a pretty good set-up for overnighters! It has rows of comfy chairs and a 24 hour Dunkin Donuts! Not bad! So after a night of people watching, and me not sleeping, we head to our gate around 6:00am to check into our flight to La Isla de Pascua, or Easter Island. After being delayed over an hour, the flight is awesome! Great movies, great food, free beer! Rapa Nui, the islands official name to its Native Polynesian inhabitants, is a volcanic island formed by lava from 3 seperate volcanoes, 3,700km east of Chile. This island is a small gem in the middle of nowhere, visited by less than 50, 000 tourists a year, who flock here to see its mysterious Moai (Moe- eye), or giant statues, found scattered throughout the eerie landscape. (Just an FYI, other vocabulary you may come across: Ahu=ceremonial platform, NEVER to be walked on and Pukao=topknot or headpiece, reflecting a type of hairstyle once common in Rapa Nui).
We arrive on the island, and are greeted outside the airport with beautiful flower lays from our hotel. I have never been to Hawaii, but I felt like I was there! The weather is gorgeous and I instantly think I am going to fall in love with this place. Laura and I have been looking forward to this part of our trip for sooooo long, as we knew we would be staying in a nice hotel for 4 nights where we could leave our stuff and feel safe. We arrive to Hotel Gomero in the town of Hanga Roa, and it´s so cute! We have flowers all over our room, a little patio overlooking the pool and the most exciting thing.... hot water, not only in the shower but in the sink! We have not had that yet on our trip! I instantly knew these next few days were going to be awesome!
We take some photos of our place before exploring the island. We check out tour agencies and shops, then walk along the coast, before indulging in tuna/shrimp empanadas, while watching the sunset over the water. Its beautiful! After sunset we head back to our hotel, passing a local soccer match and seeing our first Moai, statue. Great way to end the night!
We wake up to a great breakfast buffet at our hotel! Normally at the hostels we have been staying at we get bread and butter for breakfast, if anything, so to see cereal, yogurt, fruit, bread, ham, cheese and pastries was exciting! So good in fact, that we wrapped some treats up in napkins and took them for later! When traveling for 10 weeks we save money wherever we can, right Laura?? (Sneaking food, toilet paper, soap, whatever we can!)
After breakfast we kill time looking at souvenir shops and visiting icecream shops, before taking an afternoon horseback ride up to Maunga Terevaka, the highest point on the island. We mount the horses at a local family´s ranch and the ride begins. Everything goes well until my horse decides he's hungry. He tries to eat every couple feet, causing me to almost fall off, multiple times. The horses also have issues of wanting to be in front, constantly pushing the other horse out of the way, and that also meant almost knocking off the riders, me and Laura!! I have ridden horses many times and every time I question why I choose to do it! I am not a big fan of horses and always end up with the naughty ones, but for some reason I find myself doing it anyway!
Thankfully after an hour or so we arrive at our first stop, Ahu Akivi, where I get off my horse (yay!) and see our first group of Moai! They are amazing! They are huge and mysterious! They also happen to be the only 7 Moai statues facing the water. We take a ton of pictures, laugh at the Chinese tourists who annoyingly happen to be in almost every picture we take and then reluctantly get back on the horses. We ride for an hour or so, which seems like forever, trekking through mud, rocky gravel and green pastures. We run into wild horses, bulls, and cows before reaching Terevaka! The view of the island below is amazing but its so windy it's hard to even stand still to get a good photo. We attempt a few, then back on the horses we go to head down.
Again my horse gets hungry and cranky! He is fighting with me, pulling the opposite direction of where I tell him to go and eventually runs off the road. My guide had to chase after us, grab the rein and drag us for the next half hour or so. I was so pissed at my horse and the situation. It was raining, I was cold, it was muddy and we had now been on these horses for almost 5 hours, which was about 4 1/2 hours too long! We finally arrive back to the ranch, say thanks to the family and head back home. We have plans to go to the small movie theater on the island to watch a film entitled Rapa Nui, but find out they are having problems with the projector and can't show it that night. Bummer, but oh well, I ended up buying the movie later on so I can watch it when I get home to MN! Tomorrow we're renting 4-wheelers and are super excited!
Friday July 23rd, we wake up and go rent our 4-wheeler! The whole island of Rapa Nui is only 15.3 miles long and 7.6 miles wide, making it easy to cover a lot of its ground if renting some sort of transportation (except for the northern coast, which is only accessible by foot or horseback, which I definitely did not want to do again)! We originally were going to rent a SUV for the day, as it was cheap and driving on the island seemed safe, but instead we saw the 4-wheel option and decided that sounded much more adventurous! This was probably one of the best decisions we made! The 4-wheeler was so fun! We had it for 24 hours and could go wherever we wanted, what freedom?!! So we hopped on the 4-wheeler, grabbed our map and headed out of town. We were now on the search for Moai! Most people take guided tours of the island, as many of the Moai are in hard to find and hard to access places, however we decided to do things a little more independently by buying a guide book and renting the 4-wheeler. This way we still got information on every site, but could go at our own pace. It literally was like a scavenger hunt for Moai!! We would look at our map, check the location of the next Moai in line, and set out searching for it/them. Once arriving we would pull out our guide book and read about the site. The best part of it was that most of the day we were the only 2 people insight. Every once in awhile we would come across other tourists, more so at the beach spots, but for the most part, nobody was around except me, Laura and the Moai. There was something about it that was a little eerie, but also amazing! We did run into a couple local Rapa Nui guys along the way, who are beautiful I must add, and they invited us to hang out and have lunch in their village but we told them we were in a hurry, as we had a lot to see, but we could meet up with them later in town. They made a joke about how getting to know the people of Rapa Nui is much more important than finding every Moai the island had to offer. They had a valid point but we were still determined to find them all! Some of our stops throughout the day included:
Anakena beach- beautiful beach with the lone Moai of Ahu Ature Huki and Ahu nau nau, consisting of 7 moai with coral eyes
Ahu Tongariki- one of the most famous and mesmerizing sites, consisting of 15 moai, the largest ahu ever built
Ana Kakenga- area filled with caves and many knocked down Moai
After a couple more hours of Moai searching we realize it was getting late and we needed to rush home to get ready for our show we had booked for the night. Rapa Nui has its own style of dancing, similar to the Hauka in New Zealand and we were told it was something we had to experience while there! After asking around we decide on the Te Ra'ai show, which includes a typical dinner, as well as a dance performance and lessons. We rush home on the 4-wheeler, shower and get ready for the night!
We arrived at Te Ra'ai and were immediately greeted by handsome Rapa Nui men in costume. They gave us a cocktail and pulled us into the side room, where they painted our faces with traditional Rapa Nui designs. We then were sent up on stage with everyone else to start our dance lessons! It was so fun! (And quite comical, especially watching some of the old men)! We were told to remember these moves as some of us would be called up later to show them off. I had my fingers crossed that it was not me! After the dance lesson is was time for dinner, in which we were called outside to observe. Our dinner was prepared in a traditional underground oven or special kind of firepit. It was literally a hole in the ground, filled with fire-heated stones and layers of food, each covered by a layer of banana leaves, and then all covered with dirt and surrounded by a rock wall. The oven consisted of 2 layers of food, chicken and fish first, and then sweet potatoes and carrots. After watching the food preparation ceremony outside we headed back in, to indulge in our feast! Everything about the meal was delicious, especially the dessert, which was my favorite banana breadcake, served with a traditional Rapa Nui cocktail and wine!
After dinner it was showtime! It was super entertaining! The dancers were so intense! I could tell they really enjoyed what they doing. Each dance had a story behind it, and different attire. Sometimes Laura and I could not help but laugh, or stare, as some of the mens costumes were nothing more that a triangle cut out of animal skin covering their ´you know what!´ The show lasted about an hour, then it was time for the dancers to bring people up on stage, the part I was dreading. Of course, who do you think was one of the first people called up? Me! I was super embarrassed at first, but as other people were brought up, I loved it! It helped that my guy was super good looking! We danced for awhile, then they ended with a finale and photo session. We took pictures with some of the dancers, before heading back to Hotel Gomero. What a great Easter Island experience?! We got home home a lot later than expected and had origianlly planned to go out to the bars/clubs, but we wanted to wake up early and make it one of the Moai sites by sunrise, so we went to sleep.
Saturday June 24th was our last full day on the island. We started our day by getting up early in order to make it to Ahu Tongariki by sunrise! Although we had already seen this site yesterday, we were told it was breathtaking at sunrise so we wanted to see it again. Still having our 4 wheeler, we set out in the pitch dark with only our headlights to guide us. We got extremely lost, which seems hard to do on such a small island, but we did! We finally got back on the right road, after stopping at the police station to ask for directions, and with no other vehicles in sight we drive as fast as we can, as we can already see the sun beginning to come up! We approached Ahu Tongariki, about halfway through sunrise, which actually provided some of the prettiest colors. We ate a snack in the grassy field infront of the Moai while taking pictures and being amazed with the colors in the sky. After sunrise we jumped back on the 4-wheeler and headed to the volcano of Rano Raraku. This is considered the ´nursery´ of the Moai. We actually snuck in here, as it was not open yet but the gate was ajar! This place was like no other place on the island. There were Moai all over the place, some laying, some standing and some looking as if they were about to tip over. One of the largest Moai ever carved, a whopping 21 meters tall, is found here! This area is also home to a large crater, which was a pain to hike up to but worth it. The view was great! By the time we were done seeing everything the site had to offer, it was unfortuantely open to the public, which meant they did make us pay on our way out. They didn´t question why we entered the site without permission, they just asked for money. It was now after 10 and our 4-wheeler was suppose to be returned by 10:30 so again we hopped on it and rushed to get back to Hanga Roa! Again, we somehow got lost, making us realize we were already going to be late bringing the 4-wheeler back so we might as well try to rush back to the hotel first, in time to get breakfast, which ended soon as well. We made it just in time for breakfast, but did end up paying a fine for returning the 4-wheeler late. Oh well. It was sad giving it back, as it had been such a quick way to get from place to place.
There was still one big site we had not seen on the island and this was the ceremonial sight of Orongo. We began hiking there in the afternoon, not knowing what we were getting ourselves into. This was no stroll in the park. It was intense hiking for a couple hours! At one point we were walking in grass up to our shoulders! After that it was a marked path but still extremely steep! When we made it to the top we were so relieved! We approached the Ranu Kao, lake-filled crater, which was beautiful and then walked down to the ceremonial village. Orongo was filled with small, cave like houses that actually used to be lived in, petroglyphs, which are carvings of typical Rapa Nui designs in the rocks and cliffs and it provided views of the 2 smaller islands near Easter Island,that are too small for anyone to actually live on. We spent a little time here and then literally began running back down the mountain, which was alot easier than the climb up, in order to make it to one more site, this time intended to make it there by sunset. We ran down the mountain and hopped in the first cab we saw. Our cab rushed us to Ahu Tahai, Ahu Akapu and Ahu Ko Te Riku, as we told him we wanted to be there by sunset. Again we were rushed, story of our lives!! There were other tourists already camped out, with their cameras, ready to witness the beauty! Laura and I ate our picnic dinner we had brought, while enjoying the moment! After the sun was set we walked back home in the dark and went to sleep one last night at Hotel Gomero. Tomorrow morning we sadly need to leave the island and head back to Santiago, which also means heading back to the world of backpacking, moving from place to place, sleeping in dormrooms, not having hot water, getting served only bread for breakfast, always keeping one eye on our belongings.... It is sad to leave the little island, where the boys show up at the clubs on horseback and locals already recognize us and know our names on the streets! I LOVE EASTER ISLAND!
We arrive on the island, and are greeted outside the airport with beautiful flower lays from our hotel. I have never been to Hawaii, but I felt like I was there! The weather is gorgeous and I instantly think I am going to fall in love with this place. Laura and I have been looking forward to this part of our trip for sooooo long, as we knew we would be staying in a nice hotel for 4 nights where we could leave our stuff and feel safe. We arrive to Hotel Gomero in the town of Hanga Roa, and it´s so cute! We have flowers all over our room, a little patio overlooking the pool and the most exciting thing.... hot water, not only in the shower but in the sink! We have not had that yet on our trip! I instantly knew these next few days were going to be awesome!
We take some photos of our place before exploring the island. We check out tour agencies and shops, then walk along the coast, before indulging in tuna/shrimp empanadas, while watching the sunset over the water. Its beautiful! After sunset we head back to our hotel, passing a local soccer match and seeing our first Moai, statue. Great way to end the night!
We wake up to a great breakfast buffet at our hotel! Normally at the hostels we have been staying at we get bread and butter for breakfast, if anything, so to see cereal, yogurt, fruit, bread, ham, cheese and pastries was exciting! So good in fact, that we wrapped some treats up in napkins and took them for later! When traveling for 10 weeks we save money wherever we can, right Laura?? (Sneaking food, toilet paper, soap, whatever we can!)
After breakfast we kill time looking at souvenir shops and visiting icecream shops, before taking an afternoon horseback ride up to Maunga Terevaka, the highest point on the island. We mount the horses at a local family´s ranch and the ride begins. Everything goes well until my horse decides he's hungry. He tries to eat every couple feet, causing me to almost fall off, multiple times. The horses also have issues of wanting to be in front, constantly pushing the other horse out of the way, and that also meant almost knocking off the riders, me and Laura!! I have ridden horses many times and every time I question why I choose to do it! I am not a big fan of horses and always end up with the naughty ones, but for some reason I find myself doing it anyway!
Thankfully after an hour or so we arrive at our first stop, Ahu Akivi, where I get off my horse (yay!) and see our first group of Moai! They are amazing! They are huge and mysterious! They also happen to be the only 7 Moai statues facing the water. We take a ton of pictures, laugh at the Chinese tourists who annoyingly happen to be in almost every picture we take and then reluctantly get back on the horses. We ride for an hour or so, which seems like forever, trekking through mud, rocky gravel and green pastures. We run into wild horses, bulls, and cows before reaching Terevaka! The view of the island below is amazing but its so windy it's hard to even stand still to get a good photo. We attempt a few, then back on the horses we go to head down.
Again my horse gets hungry and cranky! He is fighting with me, pulling the opposite direction of where I tell him to go and eventually runs off the road. My guide had to chase after us, grab the rein and drag us for the next half hour or so. I was so pissed at my horse and the situation. It was raining, I was cold, it was muddy and we had now been on these horses for almost 5 hours, which was about 4 1/2 hours too long! We finally arrive back to the ranch, say thanks to the family and head back home. We have plans to go to the small movie theater on the island to watch a film entitled Rapa Nui, but find out they are having problems with the projector and can't show it that night. Bummer, but oh well, I ended up buying the movie later on so I can watch it when I get home to MN! Tomorrow we're renting 4-wheelers and are super excited!
Friday July 23rd, we wake up and go rent our 4-wheeler! The whole island of Rapa Nui is only 15.3 miles long and 7.6 miles wide, making it easy to cover a lot of its ground if renting some sort of transportation (except for the northern coast, which is only accessible by foot or horseback, which I definitely did not want to do again)! We originally were going to rent a SUV for the day, as it was cheap and driving on the island seemed safe, but instead we saw the 4-wheel option and decided that sounded much more adventurous! This was probably one of the best decisions we made! The 4-wheeler was so fun! We had it for 24 hours and could go wherever we wanted, what freedom?!! So we hopped on the 4-wheeler, grabbed our map and headed out of town. We were now on the search for Moai! Most people take guided tours of the island, as many of the Moai are in hard to find and hard to access places, however we decided to do things a little more independently by buying a guide book and renting the 4-wheeler. This way we still got information on every site, but could go at our own pace. It literally was like a scavenger hunt for Moai!! We would look at our map, check the location of the next Moai in line, and set out searching for it/them. Once arriving we would pull out our guide book and read about the site. The best part of it was that most of the day we were the only 2 people insight. Every once in awhile we would come across other tourists, more so at the beach spots, but for the most part, nobody was around except me, Laura and the Moai. There was something about it that was a little eerie, but also amazing! We did run into a couple local Rapa Nui guys along the way, who are beautiful I must add, and they invited us to hang out and have lunch in their village but we told them we were in a hurry, as we had a lot to see, but we could meet up with them later in town. They made a joke about how getting to know the people of Rapa Nui is much more important than finding every Moai the island had to offer. They had a valid point but we were still determined to find them all! Some of our stops throughout the day included:
Anakena beach- beautiful beach with the lone Moai of Ahu Ature Huki and Ahu nau nau, consisting of 7 moai with coral eyes
Ahu Tongariki- one of the most famous and mesmerizing sites, consisting of 15 moai, the largest ahu ever built
Ana Kakenga- area filled with caves and many knocked down Moai
After a couple more hours of Moai searching we realize it was getting late and we needed to rush home to get ready for our show we had booked for the night. Rapa Nui has its own style of dancing, similar to the Hauka in New Zealand and we were told it was something we had to experience while there! After asking around we decide on the Te Ra'ai show, which includes a typical dinner, as well as a dance performance and lessons. We rush home on the 4-wheeler, shower and get ready for the night!
We arrived at Te Ra'ai and were immediately greeted by handsome Rapa Nui men in costume. They gave us a cocktail and pulled us into the side room, where they painted our faces with traditional Rapa Nui designs. We then were sent up on stage with everyone else to start our dance lessons! It was so fun! (And quite comical, especially watching some of the old men)! We were told to remember these moves as some of us would be called up later to show them off. I had my fingers crossed that it was not me! After the dance lesson is was time for dinner, in which we were called outside to observe. Our dinner was prepared in a traditional underground oven or special kind of firepit. It was literally a hole in the ground, filled with fire-heated stones and layers of food, each covered by a layer of banana leaves, and then all covered with dirt and surrounded by a rock wall. The oven consisted of 2 layers of food, chicken and fish first, and then sweet potatoes and carrots. After watching the food preparation ceremony outside we headed back in, to indulge in our feast! Everything about the meal was delicious, especially the dessert, which was my favorite banana breadcake, served with a traditional Rapa Nui cocktail and wine!
After dinner it was showtime! It was super entertaining! The dancers were so intense! I could tell they really enjoyed what they doing. Each dance had a story behind it, and different attire. Sometimes Laura and I could not help but laugh, or stare, as some of the mens costumes were nothing more that a triangle cut out of animal skin covering their ´you know what!´ The show lasted about an hour, then it was time for the dancers to bring people up on stage, the part I was dreading. Of course, who do you think was one of the first people called up? Me! I was super embarrassed at first, but as other people were brought up, I loved it! It helped that my guy was super good looking! We danced for awhile, then they ended with a finale and photo session. We took pictures with some of the dancers, before heading back to Hotel Gomero. What a great Easter Island experience?! We got home home a lot later than expected and had origianlly planned to go out to the bars/clubs, but we wanted to wake up early and make it one of the Moai sites by sunrise, so we went to sleep.
Saturday June 24th was our last full day on the island. We started our day by getting up early in order to make it to Ahu Tongariki by sunrise! Although we had already seen this site yesterday, we were told it was breathtaking at sunrise so we wanted to see it again. Still having our 4 wheeler, we set out in the pitch dark with only our headlights to guide us. We got extremely lost, which seems hard to do on such a small island, but we did! We finally got back on the right road, after stopping at the police station to ask for directions, and with no other vehicles in sight we drive as fast as we can, as we can already see the sun beginning to come up! We approached Ahu Tongariki, about halfway through sunrise, which actually provided some of the prettiest colors. We ate a snack in the grassy field infront of the Moai while taking pictures and being amazed with the colors in the sky. After sunrise we jumped back on the 4-wheeler and headed to the volcano of Rano Raraku. This is considered the ´nursery´ of the Moai. We actually snuck in here, as it was not open yet but the gate was ajar! This place was like no other place on the island. There were Moai all over the place, some laying, some standing and some looking as if they were about to tip over. One of the largest Moai ever carved, a whopping 21 meters tall, is found here! This area is also home to a large crater, which was a pain to hike up to but worth it. The view was great! By the time we were done seeing everything the site had to offer, it was unfortuantely open to the public, which meant they did make us pay on our way out. They didn´t question why we entered the site without permission, they just asked for money. It was now after 10 and our 4-wheeler was suppose to be returned by 10:30 so again we hopped on it and rushed to get back to Hanga Roa! Again, we somehow got lost, making us realize we were already going to be late bringing the 4-wheeler back so we might as well try to rush back to the hotel first, in time to get breakfast, which ended soon as well. We made it just in time for breakfast, but did end up paying a fine for returning the 4-wheeler late. Oh well. It was sad giving it back, as it had been such a quick way to get from place to place.
There was still one big site we had not seen on the island and this was the ceremonial sight of Orongo. We began hiking there in the afternoon, not knowing what we were getting ourselves into. This was no stroll in the park. It was intense hiking for a couple hours! At one point we were walking in grass up to our shoulders! After that it was a marked path but still extremely steep! When we made it to the top we were so relieved! We approached the Ranu Kao, lake-filled crater, which was beautiful and then walked down to the ceremonial village. Orongo was filled with small, cave like houses that actually used to be lived in, petroglyphs, which are carvings of typical Rapa Nui designs in the rocks and cliffs and it provided views of the 2 smaller islands near Easter Island,that are too small for anyone to actually live on. We spent a little time here and then literally began running back down the mountain, which was alot easier than the climb up, in order to make it to one more site, this time intended to make it there by sunset. We ran down the mountain and hopped in the first cab we saw. Our cab rushed us to Ahu Tahai, Ahu Akapu and Ahu Ko Te Riku, as we told him we wanted to be there by sunset. Again we were rushed, story of our lives!! There were other tourists already camped out, with their cameras, ready to witness the beauty! Laura and I ate our picnic dinner we had brought, while enjoying the moment! After the sun was set we walked back home in the dark and went to sleep one last night at Hotel Gomero. Tomorrow morning we sadly need to leave the island and head back to Santiago, which also means heading back to the world of backpacking, moving from place to place, sleeping in dormrooms, not having hot water, getting served only bread for breakfast, always keeping one eye on our belongings.... It is sad to leave the little island, where the boys show up at the clubs on horseback and locals already recognize us and know our names on the streets! I LOVE EASTER ISLAND!
martes, 3 de agosto de 2010
5th Stop: Chile
Although we have already been in Chile prior to this post I had to follow the pattern and label this country as my 5th stop!
We leave San Pedro around 5:30 pm, heading to Calama, an hour away, where we would have to switch busses, as we were not able to get a direct bus to Santiago, being they were full by the time we got money and could actually reserve a seat. The bus ride to Santiago is 21 hours and I was dreading it!! To my surprise the bus was surprisingly pleasant! Not too cold, not too noisy, just peaceful for once! We stopped at another terminal/hot dog stand along the way for a late dinner and then, back on the bus I was asleep by midnight, having 2 full seats to myself, as the bus was pretty empty. I was exhausted, after not having slept the last few nights due to the cold and having to wake up early for tours. I slept until 6am, when I woke up to someone who just got on the bus, telling me politely that I was in his seat. I have never slept a straight 6 hours on a bus; this was monumental! We watched plenty of movies, took naps, journaled a bit and took pictures out the bus window. We have spent many nights on busses, but this was a night and almost the whole next day type of ride!! We stop for a late lunch around 3:30 in the afternoon. The weather was nice at this stop and was probably the first time in days that I could remove some of my layers! We hop back on the bus, watch another movie and then arrive in Santiago in the evening. We have a couple days before our Easter Island flight and had planned on either getting our Santiago sightseeing done beforehand, or heading to Viña del Mar and Valparaiso, two cities a little outside of Santiago. We decide on the later of the two. So, as much as we're tired of being on a bus, we decide to switch busses yet again and hop on one to take us to Viña del Mar, about 2 hours away. This bus ride was a cake-walk! We got snacks, crossword puzzles, and bible verses from our crazy, religious bus attendent, who wanted so badly to practice his English with us. At first he was cute, then it just got annoying and creepy!
We arrive in Viña and hop in a cab, heading to Che Lagarto hostel. It´s dark outside, we're tired and hungry, and of course our cab driver gets lost! After asking for directions quite a few times, we approach the hostel. It looks super sketchy and has long, dark stairs leading up to the entrance. It was like out of some kind of horror movie, making us hesitant to even ring the doorbell. The gate swung open and we walked up the stairs. Once inside, the scariness was lost as the hostel was filled with smiling faces and warmth! We get beds in one of their dorms, walk to the closest sandwich stand, which we fall in love with and end up eating at several times in Viña, and then head next door to Cafe Journal, where we indulge in beers and french fries! We then head home to bed, as we have a lot to see the following day.
On Tuesday July 20th, we wake up early and you'll never believe this but we realize that it has been 8 days since we last showered!! Gross! We did have good reason though. Well, in Copacabana we really had no excuse other than that it wasn't a priority at the time, La Paz we never actually had a hostel, our jeep tour there were not showers available, well there was one, shared amongst 20 plus people, but no hot water, so not worth it. Then in San Pedro it seemed pointless to shower because it was so sandy and dirty. And now this brings us to Viña, where there is finally hot water and we are finally going to shower, yay! The shower is amazing and I feel like a new person, ready to start the day!
The city of Viña del Mar, officially named vineyard by the sea, is known for it's beaches in the summer, and is lined by palm trees, gardens and parks. We walk along the beautiful coastline, trying to picture this as a beach town, but with the frigid air and lack of people around, it`s hard to imagine. Never the less, it's a beautiful area to take some pictures and stop for a beer along the coastline, or in our case, hot chocolate! We get a tour of the Castle, Castillo Wulff, along the shore and marvel at the abundance of hotels and casinos on the other side of the river, a more touristy area. We then check out some markets and a bookstore before heading back to the hostel in time for check-out.
It´s now time to explore Valparaiso! Thanks to Mike back home, I had been given some advice about this city and how things work, however we still found it very confusing to navigate! Valpo is known as being one of the most ¨unusual¨cities in Latin America, according to Loney Planet. It is a city lined with brightly colored houses, chaotic hills or cerros, a maze of steep streets/alleys and stairways, escaleras. It is filled with ascensores, or little cable car elevators that take you up to different cerros in the city, but for some reason we had a hard time actually finding these things, or at least functioning ones, as many were out of commision. We buy some carmalized nuts, get followed by a mob of stray dogs, and consult our map. We take a colectivo, taxi, to Pablo Neruda´s (a famous Chilean poet) house/museum because we got frustrated trying to find the ascensor to take us here and right as we pull up, it starts raining! Of course we came to Valpo with nothing more than a purse and our fleeces, no rain coat, no umbrella, not even tennis shoes, as we were told by locals that it was suppose to be sunny and warm up that afternoon. Not the case. We hide out in a little cafe drinking hot chocolate again and sharing a grilled cheese sandwich, but finally realize we don't have much time in this city and we have not yet experienced an acensor; I was determined to find one!! We decide we need to brave the rain. At this time it is raining cats and dogs, probably some of the hardest rain we have seen on this trip! We keep walking, laughing along the way about how wet and cold we are, wondering how we get ourselves in these situations. Literally we look like drowned rats by this point, and our wet shoes are squishing as we walk. We happen to see a really bright stretch of colorful houses and run over there to get a picture. Out of nowhere appears an acensor, and it's actually working! What a relief! I have been searching all afternoon for one and we finally found one! We hopped in the little cable car/elevator and off we went! This felt like how Valparaiso is suppose to feel! We were still bummed it was so cold and rainy, as this city is known for it's bright houses and colorfulness, and unfortunately some of the beauty was lost due to the weather conditions. It was still tons of fun and I can see why people love this city!
At this point it was gettig late and we had to get back to Viña to catch a night bus, so we stopped again for another hot drink, this time tea, and jumped on a bus back to our hostel in Viña. We change clothes, warm up by the fireplace (where we also try to dry our clothes, so we don't have to pack them soaking wet) and then return to both our favorite sandwich place and Cafe Journal for beer and fries, a total reinactment of the previous night We return to the hostel one more time, (buying some alcoholic beverages and bread from a panaderia along the way, hoping these will help pass time, as we'd be spending this night in the airport) chat with the guy at reception, teach him the Soulja Boy dance, as it's playing on the radio and then we head to the terminal to catch a bus to the Santiago airport. From here we will be leaving for Easter Island in the morning! Rapa Nui here we come!
We leave San Pedro around 5:30 pm, heading to Calama, an hour away, where we would have to switch busses, as we were not able to get a direct bus to Santiago, being they were full by the time we got money and could actually reserve a seat. The bus ride to Santiago is 21 hours and I was dreading it!! To my surprise the bus was surprisingly pleasant! Not too cold, not too noisy, just peaceful for once! We stopped at another terminal/hot dog stand along the way for a late dinner and then, back on the bus I was asleep by midnight, having 2 full seats to myself, as the bus was pretty empty. I was exhausted, after not having slept the last few nights due to the cold and having to wake up early for tours. I slept until 6am, when I woke up to someone who just got on the bus, telling me politely that I was in his seat. I have never slept a straight 6 hours on a bus; this was monumental! We watched plenty of movies, took naps, journaled a bit and took pictures out the bus window. We have spent many nights on busses, but this was a night and almost the whole next day type of ride!! We stop for a late lunch around 3:30 in the afternoon. The weather was nice at this stop and was probably the first time in days that I could remove some of my layers! We hop back on the bus, watch another movie and then arrive in Santiago in the evening. We have a couple days before our Easter Island flight and had planned on either getting our Santiago sightseeing done beforehand, or heading to Viña del Mar and Valparaiso, two cities a little outside of Santiago. We decide on the later of the two. So, as much as we're tired of being on a bus, we decide to switch busses yet again and hop on one to take us to Viña del Mar, about 2 hours away. This bus ride was a cake-walk! We got snacks, crossword puzzles, and bible verses from our crazy, religious bus attendent, who wanted so badly to practice his English with us. At first he was cute, then it just got annoying and creepy!
We arrive in Viña and hop in a cab, heading to Che Lagarto hostel. It´s dark outside, we're tired and hungry, and of course our cab driver gets lost! After asking for directions quite a few times, we approach the hostel. It looks super sketchy and has long, dark stairs leading up to the entrance. It was like out of some kind of horror movie, making us hesitant to even ring the doorbell. The gate swung open and we walked up the stairs. Once inside, the scariness was lost as the hostel was filled with smiling faces and warmth! We get beds in one of their dorms, walk to the closest sandwich stand, which we fall in love with and end up eating at several times in Viña, and then head next door to Cafe Journal, where we indulge in beers and french fries! We then head home to bed, as we have a lot to see the following day.
On Tuesday July 20th, we wake up early and you'll never believe this but we realize that it has been 8 days since we last showered!! Gross! We did have good reason though. Well, in Copacabana we really had no excuse other than that it wasn't a priority at the time, La Paz we never actually had a hostel, our jeep tour there were not showers available, well there was one, shared amongst 20 plus people, but no hot water, so not worth it. Then in San Pedro it seemed pointless to shower because it was so sandy and dirty. And now this brings us to Viña, where there is finally hot water and we are finally going to shower, yay! The shower is amazing and I feel like a new person, ready to start the day!
The city of Viña del Mar, officially named vineyard by the sea, is known for it's beaches in the summer, and is lined by palm trees, gardens and parks. We walk along the beautiful coastline, trying to picture this as a beach town, but with the frigid air and lack of people around, it`s hard to imagine. Never the less, it's a beautiful area to take some pictures and stop for a beer along the coastline, or in our case, hot chocolate! We get a tour of the Castle, Castillo Wulff, along the shore and marvel at the abundance of hotels and casinos on the other side of the river, a more touristy area. We then check out some markets and a bookstore before heading back to the hostel in time for check-out.
It´s now time to explore Valparaiso! Thanks to Mike back home, I had been given some advice about this city and how things work, however we still found it very confusing to navigate! Valpo is known as being one of the most ¨unusual¨cities in Latin America, according to Loney Planet. It is a city lined with brightly colored houses, chaotic hills or cerros, a maze of steep streets/alleys and stairways, escaleras. It is filled with ascensores, or little cable car elevators that take you up to different cerros in the city, but for some reason we had a hard time actually finding these things, or at least functioning ones, as many were out of commision. We buy some carmalized nuts, get followed by a mob of stray dogs, and consult our map. We take a colectivo, taxi, to Pablo Neruda´s (a famous Chilean poet) house/museum because we got frustrated trying to find the ascensor to take us here and right as we pull up, it starts raining! Of course we came to Valpo with nothing more than a purse and our fleeces, no rain coat, no umbrella, not even tennis shoes, as we were told by locals that it was suppose to be sunny and warm up that afternoon. Not the case. We hide out in a little cafe drinking hot chocolate again and sharing a grilled cheese sandwich, but finally realize we don't have much time in this city and we have not yet experienced an acensor; I was determined to find one!! We decide we need to brave the rain. At this time it is raining cats and dogs, probably some of the hardest rain we have seen on this trip! We keep walking, laughing along the way about how wet and cold we are, wondering how we get ourselves in these situations. Literally we look like drowned rats by this point, and our wet shoes are squishing as we walk. We happen to see a really bright stretch of colorful houses and run over there to get a picture. Out of nowhere appears an acensor, and it's actually working! What a relief! I have been searching all afternoon for one and we finally found one! We hopped in the little cable car/elevator and off we went! This felt like how Valparaiso is suppose to feel! We were still bummed it was so cold and rainy, as this city is known for it's bright houses and colorfulness, and unfortunately some of the beauty was lost due to the weather conditions. It was still tons of fun and I can see why people love this city!
At this point it was gettig late and we had to get back to Viña to catch a night bus, so we stopped again for another hot drink, this time tea, and jumped on a bus back to our hostel in Viña. We change clothes, warm up by the fireplace (where we also try to dry our clothes, so we don't have to pack them soaking wet) and then return to both our favorite sandwich place and Cafe Journal for beer and fries, a total reinactment of the previous night We return to the hostel one more time, (buying some alcoholic beverages and bread from a panaderia along the way, hoping these will help pass time, as we'd be spending this night in the airport) chat with the guy at reception, teach him the Soulja Boy dance, as it's playing on the radio and then we head to the terminal to catch a bus to the Santiago airport. From here we will be leaving for Easter Island in the morning! Rapa Nui here we come!
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